Numbers 20:4

20:4 Why ¹  have you brought up the Lord’s community into this wilderness? So that ²  we and our cattle should die here?

Numbers 20:8

20:8 “Take the staff and assemble the community, you and Aaron your brother, and then speak ³  to the rock before their eyes. It will pour forth ⁴  its water, and you will bring water out of the rock for them, and so you will give the community and their beasts water to drink.”

Numbers 20:11

20:11 Then Moses raised his hand, and struck the rock twice with his staff. And water came out abundantly. So the community drank, and their beasts drank too.

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¹ tn Heb “and why….” The conjunction seems to be recording another thing that the people said in their complaint against Moses.

² tn The clause uses the infinitive construct with the lamed (ל) preposition. The clause would be a result clause in this sentence: “Why have you brought us here…with the result that we will all die?”

³ tn The verb is the Piel perfect with vav (ו) consecutive, following the two imperatives in the verse. Here is the focus of the instruction for Moses.

⁴ tn Heb “give.” The verb is the perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive, as are the next two in the verse. These are not now equal to the imperatives, but imperfects, showing the results of speaking to the rock: “speak…and it will…and so you will….”